Railway roadbed



Patented May 20, 1947 um EAD STAT 1: s PAT or F ic i:

RAILWAY ROADBED BenjaminCullen Monroe, Tuscola, Ill; Applicaties october7, 1944, serial No. 55mm;

(o1. zasfz) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a railway road bed. In .itsconstructon I use asuitable ballast for the ties together with an underlying foundationthat is slightly yieldable, and-which comprises means for draining offwater which otherwise would tend to collect and remain on or near thesurface of the road bed- The commcncondition of undrained water, oftenreferred to as a hog wallow, is undesirable. for, many reasons.

The road bed of this invention possesses special utilityat any orallpoints where railway rails are to be extended. It is particularlyadvantageous, however, at places which offer special difficulties, suchas at-crossings switches, station platforms, etc Itis-herel that theproblem of drainage oftentimes becomes acute. l

` Not only does the road bed of my invention provide adequately 4iorthedrainage of such water as may be encountered, but it also protects thefoundation of the road bed,` top and bottom, so as to enhance its usefullife. Afdesirable degree of yieldability, such as is required forsatisactory operation of trains over the rails, is also provided by thefoundation hereinafter to be described. Deterioration is thereforeavoided both to the foundation and to the tiesl on the surface by reasonof the means provided for adequate and ready drainage of wateraccumulating on the road bed.

An exemplication of my invention is set forth in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a railway crossing laid upon a road bed whichis supported upon the present foundation; l

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in transverse section, taken on line 2--2 ofFig/1; and

Fig. 3 which is a view similar to Fig. 2 shows the present road bed inconnection with a double track system.

According to Figs. 1 and 2, the rails of a single track system arecarried upon cross ties T which are anchored in a bed that includes atop ballast B of crushed rock, gravel, or the like. Where the crossing Cis to be placed, the rails join therewith as at 5. Guard rails 6 of anyappropriate kind may be comprised in the crossing. Desirably thecrossing C should be in the form of a one-piece slab for purposes ofrigidity and strength, such a crossing being disclosed in my Patent No.2,294,793 of September 1, 1942. Also a connection between the rails andthe crossing, according to my Patent No. 2,274,493 of February 24, 1942,will provide special advantage due to the fact that the car wheels arenot required to jump across any gap, thereby avoiding pounding oftherail Ven ds when passing on to cr offofthe crossing. i

The ballastfor the rail ties is for the most Dari? rested upon afoundation which may include an apron l5 of impervious material,` suchas of rubber or a rubber composition. Desirablysuch an apron may befabric-reinforced for better cohesion and strength. This apron overliesaheavy slabor layer I6 of bituminous cement or the like. The top surfaceof this'slab, which is substantially fiat, is. pitched laterally so thatits low point is adjacent one endofthe ties beyond which it is.extended.- The high point may be intermediately ofthe tie-ends in thecase of single rail track (see Fig. 2), orbetween the two sets of tiesin the case of a double rail track (see Fig. 3). The sides of the slabextend downwardly and outwardly as do-also the sides of the overlyingapron which is pitched laterally in conformity-withthe topsurface of theslab. The apron is also desirably-Y downwardly l extended to lie alongand protect `the low` side of the slab.

The foundation is rested upon afmastic cushion l1', such as of sandorgravel, mixed with' bitumen. Such a combination of materials willprovide a mastic bond which is effective to prevent disintegration ofthe bottom layer and to prevent upward migration of water therethrough,thereby protecting the foundation upon its bottom.

The top ballast is extended downwardly into a channel I8 alongside oneside of the apron and its underlying slab of bituminous cement. Withinthe ballast so disposed is extended a perforated pipe 20 which liesalongside the apron adjacent its low side. 'Ih'e pipe so imbedded in theballast is supported therein in a fixed position where it will receivewater which passes rst downwardly through the ballast and then laterallyof the apron as it drains off toward its low side. A series ofperforated pipes, connected end to end, are extended lengthwise of theroad bed to conduct water therethrough to a point of discharge.

As suggested in Fig. 1, at a point where a crossing is installed aplurality of manhole grille plates 25 are located adjacent the surfaceof the ballast, one near each corner of the intersection. Each grilleplate is at the top of a vertical pipe 26 leading to the system ofbranch pipes 21 which are imbedded in the ballast. As by four suchdrainage points leading from the surface, a multiple connection is madeto the drainage system which is so pitched as to lead the water enteringthereinto to the main drain pipe 20 which extends to a point ofdischarge. The arrows shown in this figure indicate the generaldirection of flow of the water so moving through the branch pipes of thedrainage system.

In practice it will be found that water which' tends to stand at thesurface of a railway road bed, due to special conditions such as existwhere a crossing, switch or station platform is located, will readilydrain through the ballast into the perforated pipe for conduction awayto a point of discharge. In so doing, the foundation of the road bed isprotected substantially completely from the descending and ascendingwater which, by reason of the impervious apron above and the imperviousbottom layer below, is required to drain laterally into the perforatedpipes which are comprised in the drainage system. The foundation slab ofbituminous cement or the like vmay possess water-resistant properties tosome eX- tent, but the provision of overlying and underlying cushionlayers of impervious material will aiford added protection thereto.Damage to, and deterioration of, the foundation of the road bed isthereby effectively prevented so as to maintain indefinitely itscapacity to yield in response to the load of passing trains.

I claim:

1. A railway road bed consisting of a ballast for supporting the ties ofa railway, and a yield` ing foundation for the ballast comprising a, topapron of impervious resilient cushion material having a lateral pitch, aheavy supporting layer of bituminous cement having a lateral pitch atthe upper face fitting the apron and arranged within the same, saidcement layer being provided at its lower face with a recess, and a,mastic sand cushion arranged within the recess of the cement layer andforming a bottom layer and yieldable in response to the load of passingtrains.

2. A railway road bed consisting of a ballast for supporting the ties ofa railway, and a yielding foundation for the ballast comprising a topapron of impervious cushion material provided with the characteristicsof rubber and having a lateral pitch, a heavy supporting layer ofbituminous cement having a lateral pitch at the upper face tting theapron and arranged within the same, said cement layer being provided atits lower face with a recess, and a mastic sand cushion arranged withinthe recess of the cement layer and forming a bottom layer and yieldablein response to the load of passing trains.

3. A railway road bed consisting of a ballast for supporting the ties ofa railway, and a yielding foundation for the ballast comprising a topapron of impervious cushion material provided with the characteristicsof rubber and having a lateral pitch, a heavy supporting layer ofbituminous cement having a lateral pitch at the upper face fitting theapron and arranged within the same, said cement layer being provided atits lower face with a recess, and a mastic sand cushion arranged withinthe recess of the cement layer and forming a bottom layer and yieldablein response to the load of passing trains, said ballast on each side 0fthe railway road bed being extended downwardly alongside of the apron,the layer of cement, and the bottom cushioning layer, and projectingbelow the same.

BENJAMIN CULLEN MONROE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,702,841 Ruping Feb. 19, 19291,355,833 Howe Oct. 19, 1920 2,353,027 Goodwin July 4, 1944 1,408,134ODonnell Feb. 28, 1922 2,148,773 Ozias Feb. 28, 1939 1,569,702 Brown etal Jan. 12, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 702,640 FranceSept. 25, 1930

